Roller-mill.



WITNESSES www@ R. T. F. DODDS.

ROLLER MILL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2o,

m5' Ptented Mar. 13,1917.

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45 L pmm.. RWA# 5mm: mu, o cv 11.1. F. 00ans.

ROLLER NIILL.y

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20', 1915.v 1,218,634.. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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ROLLER MILL.

vLPPLICATIQN FILED APR.2o. 1915.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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Rowan-fr. r. nomas, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS;

ROLLER-MILL.

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l Application filed April 20, 1915. Serial No. 22,570.

To all @07mm t may concern;

Be it known that l, Bowan T. F. DoDDs,

a citizen ot the United States residino` at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State 'of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Roller-Mills, of which the tollowing is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this speciiication, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation generally diagrammatic of one form of myimproved mill.

Fig. 2 is an irregularl vertical section through the mill.

Fig. 3 is a sectional VView through the roll compartments.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the bolting compartments of the mill.

Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional plan view of ay part of the rolls.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating some oi the power driven belts.

Fig, 7 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modified form of mill, inwhich only oneV set of rolls is used.

Fig. 8 is a detailed sectional view through the frame ottone of thebolts.

Fig. 9 is a detailed sectional view illustrating the bolting clothstretching apparatus.

Fig. 10 is a detailed sectional view on the line X-X of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 11 is a detailed plan view somewhat diagrammatic illustrating thedriving connections for the mills shown in Fig. 7, or the lower sectionof the mill shown in Fig. 2.

My invention has relation tol an improvement in roller mills, and isdesigned to provide a compact form of mill which can be placed on asingle floor of a building, and

which is so arranged that it will not be necessary to utilize elevators'for carrying the ground material from one floor to another, or from oneunit ot the mill to another. My improved mill is composed of apluralityof independent mill units, each unit comprising grinding elements, abolting reel of novel character, and a substantially horizontal conveyoriiorconveying ground material from the grinding elements to the boltingreel. In the case of a mill composed of a plurality of units, the units,or some of them, may also be provided with horizontal return conveyersfor conveying the coarser material back to the grinding elements of asubsequent unit.

invention also provides a. number of other and novel features which willbe hereinatte pointed out.

Referring tol theV construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, 2 and 2adesignate one set of rolls in a compartment A; 3 and 3a designate asecond set of rolls in a compartment B; 4L and l-a designate a third setof rolls in al oompartment C and 5 and 5 designate a. fourth,

set of rolls in a compartment D. These various sets of rolls arerotatably mounted in journals in the trame-workforming their respectivecompartments, the rolls 2, 3, l Vand 5 being driven at one speed, whilethe rolls 2, 3, la 'and 5a are driven at a different speed, in order togrind the material ted between each set of rolls. 6 is a` chute throughwhich the grain is fed to ay reciprocating plate 7, which is connectedto an eccentric rod 8 acted upon by an eccentric 9 on the shaft of theroll '2a. rlhis eccentric rod is also connectedA to a screen `l() over ahopper 11 in thel compartment A. The ground material after passingbetween the rolls 2 and 2 is deposited upon the screen 10, the nermaterial passing through the screen 9 into the hopper 11, while thecoarser material drops oft the sides of. the screen into the bottom ofthe compartment A and is passed between the` second' set of rolls 3 and3a, and thence to the bottom of the hopper in the compartment B.

Rotatably mounted in the bottom ot the hopper l1 isa. screw conveyor l2,and located in the bottom of the compartments B, C and, D are similarvconveyers 12b, 12c and 12d, re-

spectively, which are arranged to convey the ground -material to theirrespective bolting reels.

Rotatably mounted in bearings in casings 13 ot the respective mills arebolting reels 14, 14?, 14C andlfd, which rotate about-the axis oi" theconveyers l2, 12b, 12c and 12d, respectively. Each of these boltingreels comprises a head 15 at one end and a head 1.5iL at the other end.The heads 15 are provided with sleeves 16 which are rotatably mounted inbearings in the frames 13 of the respective mills, while the heads 15are provided with sleeves 17 which inclose their respective conveyors,and are also rotatably mounted in bearings in their respective casings13. The sleeves 17 are each provided with helical ribs 17g on theirinner faces which will assist in conveying the material from theirrespective hoppers to their bolting reels, and as the conveyors andsleeves rotate at different speeds as hereinafter described, thematerial while being fed toward the bolting reels will be disintegrated,sofas to break up any lumps and pass it to the bolting reels in agranulated form and in the finest possible shape. Mounted on theperiphery of each of the heads 15 is the usual bolting-cloth, one endthereof is fastened directly to the heads 15 by a steel band,

while each bolting cloth is secured to a ring 19 by a steel band.

bolting reels as hereinafter described, and

is also provided with a chute for transferring the material from thesleeve 22 to a suitable point as hereinafter described. Connected to theshafts of each of these conveyers 12, 12b, 12c and 12d are spiders 25,and connected to the outer endsof the arms of these spiders are blades26 which are arranged to throw the material within the reel against thecloth by a centrifugal action.

27 are blades connected to the intermediate portions of said arms andwhich are so shaped that they create a slight suction or centripetalaction within the reel. This suction of the blades acts to draw thelight or woody parts of the ground material, amounting to aboutone-fifth of the weight of the flour toward the center of thebolt. Asboth the blades 26 and 27 eXtend more or less in a helical directionthis light woody material or cash will be moved toward the tail end ofthe reel, together with the coarse material which will not pass throughthe bolted cloth. IThis tendency of the light woody material to be movedin this direction is also increased by the fact that the outlet is atthis end, this outlet affording the only means for the escape of the airwhich` is drawn `into the reel through the bolting cloth by the suctionaction. The light material is, therefore, forced out through theopenings 23 in the sleeves 22 and passes therefrom into the chutes ordischarges 24. Connected to the left-handends of the shafts of theconveyers and the agitatorsare spiral conveyers 28 which are arranged tofeed the material from the openings 23 in the sleevesI 22 to thedischarge chutes.

lin order to cleanse the outer surfaces of the bolts, l provide brushes29 which are journaled in bearings in the casings 13 of the mills, andeach of the shafts of these brushes are provided with friction-disks 30which engage the heads 15a-of the bolting reels, so that the brushes arerotated by lneiaea -it in the openings 23 in the sleeves 22, so

that the heavy material will also pass out with the line woody material.

Mounted below the bolting reel 14b is a conveyer tube 33D, 33' is -aconveyer tube bev low the bolting reel 14c and 33 is a hopper' below thebolting reel 14d. lotatably mounted in these tubes are screw con'veyers34b and 34C, respectively, and 34d'is a conveyer in the hopper 33d.Extending from the hopper 34d are a plurality of chutes 35 for carryingoff the flour to any convenient point. Y

The rolls 2, 3, 4 and 5 aremounted in fixed bearings, while each of therolls 2, 3, 4 and 5a is mounted in movable bearings. 3G, there being onebearing at each end of the roll, which are pivoted tothe frames of theirre-A spective mills at 37. Journaled in bearings at the back oftheframes are shafts 38 having eccentrics thereon which engage eccentriestraps having links 39 connected to the bearing members 36, so thatlwhen the shafts 38 are rotated the rolls 2u, 3a, 4fL and 5a will bemoved from their respective rolls 2, 4 and 5. Connected to each of theseshafts 38 is a lever arm 39a, and 40 is a link connected to all of thelever arms, so that when one of the arms is raised the remainder of thearms will be simultaneously raised, thereby shifting all of the rollssimultaneously. Any one or all ofthe lever arms 39ainay be extended toform an operating handle by means of which. the link 40 can be actuatedto effect the shifting of the rolls. 41 are pressure springs whichnormally bear against bearings 36. 42 are screw shafts connected to thebearings 36 and are provided with hand wheels 43, the hand wheels andscrew shafts being arranged to hold 4the rolls so that only apredetermined amount of pressure of springs 41 which engage the bearings35 will hold the rolls in contact with each other.

44 is a driving shaft which may be driven. from any suitable source ofpower and is provided with a driving pulley 45, by which the four millsare driven. 4G is a driving pulley on the shaft roll 2, 4'?, 48 and 49are driving pulleys on the shafts of the rolls 3, 4 and 5, respectivelyfor driving the individual mills. 50 is a driving belt connectingpulleys 46 and 47, 51 is a driving belt connecting pulleys 48 and 49, 52is a driving belt con necting pulleys 45 and 4S, this last beltoverlapping the belt 51, and 53 is a belt connecting pulleys 4G and 45,and which belt overlaps the belt 50 on the pulley 4G' and the belt 52 onthe pulley 45, so that one roll of each mill is driven directly from themain driving pulley 45. The other rolls of each set being driven bymeans of gears 54, see Fig. 10.

is a belt connecting the pulley on the rollV shaft 3 with the pulley onthe shaft of the conveyer 12, Which shaft is in turn connected by a belt57 With a pulley on the shaft of the conveyer 12b and a pulley on theshaft the sleeve 17 on the bolting reel 14d.

of the conveyer 34').

rIhe ends of the conveyer tubes 33b and 33C open into compartments 58"Land 592l over the grinding rolls 4, 4a and 5, 5a, and containdistributing rolls 58 and 59, respectively. The distributing roll 58 isdriven by means of gearing 60 from the shaft of the conveyer 34h, Whilethe roll 59 is driven by similar gearing 61 from the shaft of theconveyer 34C. 58b and 59b are spring pressed pivoted plates forming onevfall of each of their respective compartments, 5Sa and 59a, the loweredges thereof bear against their distributing rolls and together withthe distributing rolls are arranged to equally distribute the materialto be ground along the grinding rolls.

The conveyer 12 is driven by a vbelt 62 which engages a pulley on theshaft of the roll 4 and a pulley on the shaft of the conveyer 12C, andthe conveyer 34c is driven by means of a belt 63 from the shaft of theconveyer 12". 64 is a belt connecting the pulley on the roll 5 to apulley on the shaft ofthe conveyer 12d'. Connected to the shaft of theroll 5a is a pulley 65 which is belted to a pulley 66 on a shaft 67,which in turn is cennected by means of gears 68 with the shaft of theconveyer 33d and by gears 69 with he various sleeves ofthe bolting reels14, 14", 14C and 14d are connected by means of sprocket chains 70 onsprocket Wheels 71, so that all of the bolting reels are rotated in thesame direction by the shaft 67.

The bolting reels 14 and 14l are covered from end to end with boltingcloth of very line mesh, While the right hand ends of bolting reels 14band 14C beyond the partitions 14 and 14, which divide the respectivecompartments containing the bolting reels 14" and 14c into tivocompartments are covered ivith bolting cloth of line mesh and the lefthand ends With bolting cloth of coarse mesh. The conveyer tubes 32b and32c are provided With chutes 32 having control gates 32 ivliich areadapted to be opened When making Whole Wheat or Graham flour ashereinafter described.

The material to be ground is fed through the chute 6 to the plate 7, andthereby evenly distributed between the rolls 2 and 2a, the groundmaterial falling on the sieve 10, the finer portionsthereof being siftedin the hopper 11 While the coarser portions pass to the rolls 3 and 3a.The fine niaterial'in the hopper 1l` is fed by meansof the conveyer 12to the bolting reel 14, the flour Which passes out through the boltingcloth falls to the hopper 33d, While the coarser material is conveyed bythe buckets 31 in the reel, and the Woody portions Which are separatedby the centripetal action of the agitator pass down through chute 24 tothe conveyer tube 33h. The material in the conveyer tube 33b is fed bymeans of conveyer 341 to the rolls 4 and 4a. The material Which has beenground by the rolls 3 and 3EL is fed by conveyer* 12b to the boltingreel 14h, the flour Which passes through the line cloth drops into thehopper 33d, While the eoarser material which drops on the tail board 34is carried into the conveyer tube 33b and is fed to the rolls 4 and 4a,While the coarser and Woody portions fromthe bolting reel are carriedoff by chute 24h. After the material has passed through rolls 4 and 4ait is carried by means of conveyer 12C to the bolting reel 14C, theflour passing through the line cloth vdrops into the hopper 33d, Whilethe coarser portions drop onto the tail board 34 and are conveyedthrough the conveyer tube 33c by means of the conveyer 34` to the rolls5 and 5a, While the coarser portions Within the I bolting reel and thelline Woody particles are carried off through chute 24C. The materialfrom the rolls 5 and 5a is fed by means of conveyer 12d to the boltingreel 14d, the flour which passes through the bolting cloth is droppedinto the hopper 33d, While the other particles are passed out throughthe chute 24d to any suitable source, and the flour is removed from thebottom of the hopper 33d by means of the conveyer 34d Which conveys itto suitable outlet chutes 35,

through which it passes to a suitable source.

If it is desired to make Graham or Whole Wheat flour the gates 32 in thechutes 32 communicating with the conveyers 32b and 32c are left open, sothat the flour or material passing through the coarser portions of thecloth surrounding the bolting reels 141 and 14c will pass directly tothe hopper 33d.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a single mill in which I have designated all ofthe parts with a similar reference character With the letter c a-liXed.In this mill the rolls can be set close enough to do all of the grindingand the ground materialis conveyed by means of the conveyer 12c to thebolting reel 14e, the refuse passing oftl through the chute 24e and theflour being conveyed to the chutes 35e by means of the conveyer 33.

vThe advantages of my invention are numerous. It Will be noted that byreason of the fact that each of the units composing' the yand free fromclogging.

of any particular' mill, according to the pur-l that the beltconnections for drivingfthe grinding elements can -be readilymade at thehead end of thef machine, ,the belts being arranged in sub-r and the`conveyer shafts stantially vertical lines and in compact form. Thearrangement of the driving mechanism is very flexible, enabling drivingconnections to be made to any desired number of units. rIhedrivingconnectionsfor the external members of the bolting reels, it willbe noted, are located intermediate the grinding elements and the boltingreels, thus leaving the tail end lof the machine free from all drivingmechanism and greatly facilitating inspection of the operation of themill.

It will be further noted that all the conveyers are substantiallyhorizontal screw conveyors, no bucket elevators being required eitherfor conveying the material to or from the bolting reels. The feature ofproviding the bolting reels with sleeve extensions at their head endsand providing such sleeve extensions With interiorly arrangeddisintegrating means, causes the material from the grinding elements tobe delivered to the` boltingreels in a condition free from lumps, andvwhereby a most effective separation of the yflour particles can beeifected in the reel. These sleeve extensions also form driving membersand the connections from one reel to another can be readily made fromthese extensions.

rlhe peculiar form of agitators which I employ in the Vbolting reels isalso a feature of great advantage, since not only is the materialproperly agitated and fed through the reel by the action of the main setof agitator blades, but the provision of the auxiliary blades 27, ortheir equivalent, which create a slight suction Within the reels,effectively l. separates out all the Woody and fibrous parts of theground material, which is discharged separately at the end of the reel.The agitators are driven at a relatively high rate of speed, and muchfaster than the bolting cloth, and this relatively high speed not onlygreatly facilitates the separation of the flour y but also the suctionaction described. rlhis causes the reels to act as purifiers.v It ivillfurther be noted that the bolting reels are f closed except for themeshes of the bolting cloth, so that all air drawn into the interior ofthe reels by the suction action described must necessarily pass throughthe meshes of the cloth, thereby keeping the latter clear Cloggingon theoutside is prevented by the action of the rotary brushes which extendthe entire length of the reels, even in those units in which the reelsare divided into two compartments.

A further advantage of my invention rcsult-s from the provision of meansin the.

conveyer passages of somevof the reel units, whereby the materialtherein can be directly discharged without passing to another set ofgrinding elements. This enables meto use the same mill in themanufacture of Graham or Whole Wheat flour, or inthe. v

inO means therein for creating a centripetal;

suction action to dran7 the lighter particles of the material toward thecenter of the reel and toward said discharge opening, substantially asdescribed.

:2. In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel and an agitator havinglongitudinally Within the reel, and alsohaving means for creatingsuction action toward thecenter of the reel, said reelbeing closedexcept for the openings through its cloth and a central dischargeopeningat the tail end thereof, whereby the air drawn in by the suctionmeans is compelled to pass ,throughy m and clear the cloth and passesoutwardly through the central discharge opening, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a Hour mill, a rotatable bolting reel havingan agitator providedWith means for creating blades extending.

both a centripetal and centrifugall action, whereby the heavierparticles of the material will be thrown outwardly and the Woody andfibrous particles will bejdrawn toward the center of the reel, therebeing a central discharge opening through the tail end of the reel forsuch particles, 'substantially as described.

4. A bolting reel having a closed ,end at the head end thereof, iviththe exception of a central feed opening therethrough which is closed upby the material being fed into the reel, an agitator Within the reel,means for rotating the agitator and the reelsaid rotating means beingarranged to rotate the agitator' relative to the reel, said agitatorhaving longitudinal blades arranged to throw the heavier materialagainst the Walls of the reel by centrifugal action, and aV second setof blades arranged to suclrair through the bolting cloth and to draw the.lighter Woody particles toward the center of the reel and force them ina longitudinalv direction in the central portion of thereel to the tailend thereof; the reel having a discharge opening for such particles atsaid end, substantially as described. Y

5. In a flour mill, a bolting reel provided with an internal agitatorhaving means for throwing the material outwardly against the boltingsurface of the reel, and having other means located near the center ofthe reel for creating an inward suction toward such center, the reelalso having a discharge opening for the lighter material separated outby such suction action, substantially as described. Y

6. A flour mill having a bolting reel provided with a rotatable internalagitator having helically arranged longitudinal blades arranged to drawthe lighter material or ash to the central portion of the tail end ofthe reel, the reel having at its tail end a hollow casing memberextending into the tail end of the reel and formed with an openingcommunicating with the reel for the discharge of said material, togetherwith a conveyer on the agitator shaft within the said casing member,substantially as described.

7. In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel,

a screw conveyer for conveying the material to the reel, a tube for saidconveyer communicating with the reel and connected thereto, means forrotating the tube and the reel, means for rotating the screw conveyer,and means on the inner wall of the tube to coact with the screw conveyerto disintegrate the material fed by the conveyer; substantially asdescribed.

8. In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel having an agitator`provided with centrifugally acting blades, the agitator also havingmeans for creating a suction action through the bolting surface of thereel toward the center thereof, the reel having a central dischargeopening at one end portion, and also having means for dischargingthrough said opening the material drawn thereto by such suction action,substantially as described.

9. In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel having a closed end at thehead end thereof, an agitator provided with a plurality of main bladesextending in a general longitudinal direction but in helical lines, andalso having another set of blades set nearer the axis of the agitator,the two sets of blades producing a combined centrifugal and centripetalaction, substantially as described.

10. In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel having a closed end at thehead end thereof, an agitator provided with a plurality of main bladesextending in a general longitudinal direction but in helical lines, andalso having another set of blades set nearer the axis of the agitator,the two sets of blades producing a combined centrifugal and centripetalaction, together with means for rotating the agitator at a higher speedthan the body of thereel, substantially as described.

l1.' In a flour mill, the combination with a rotatable bolting reel, ofa screw conveyer for conveying the material into said reel, said reelbeing provided with a casing member surrounding the said conveyer andhaving disintegrating and feeding means on its inner surface, and meansfor rotating both the conveyer and the casing member, substantially asdescribed.

1Q. In a flour mill, the combination with a rotatable bolting reel, of ascrew conveyer for conveying the material into the reel, said reel beingprovided with a member surrounding the said conveyer and having feedingand disintegrating means, and driving mechanism for rotating theconveyer and said member at di'erent rates of speed, substantially asdescribed.

13. In a flour mill,l a rotatablebolting reel having means for creatingan insuction through its bolting surface toward the center of the reeland endwise thereof, thereel having an end discharge opening for thematerial drawn thereto by such suction action, substantially asdescribed.

14. In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel having a centrally locateddischarge opening at one end thereof, a casing member into which saidopening leads and which is provided with'a discharge opening, a screwconveyer working within said casing member, and means within the reelfor sucking the lighter particles of the material toward the center ofthe reel and toward said centrally located discharge opening,substantially as described.

I5.` In a flour mill, a rotatable bolting reel having a centrallylocated discharge opening at one end thereof, a casing member' intowhich said opening leads and which is provided with a discharge opening,a screw conveyer working within said casing member, and means within thereel for sucking the lighter particles of the material toward the centerof the reel and toward said centrally located discharge opening, thereel having at its opposite end a centrally located inlet openingarranged to be normally closed by the incoming material, substantiallyas described.

16. A flour mill comprising grinding elements, a bolting reel having itshead provided with a sleeve extension, said sleeve eX- tension carryingdriving means between the reel and the grinding elements, substantiallyas described.

17. A iiour mill comprising grinding elevided with a sleeve extension,said sleeve eX- tension carrying driving means between the reel and thegrinding elements, and also ments, a bolting reel having its head pro-.125

forming a conveyei casing, substantially-as ing internal disintegmtingmeans, substan- V described. tia-ily 21S-described. ll 18. A flour milicomprising grinding ele- In testimony whereof, I have hereunto setments, it bolting reel having its head promy `hand. 5 vided With asleeve extension, said sleeve eX- ROVVAN T. F. DODDS.

tension carrying driving ineens between the Vitnesses: reel and thegrinding elements', and aleo E. M. DoDDs, forming a conveyer easing,said casing hav- H. C. DEAN.

Copies of this patent may be `obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patentev Washington, D. C.

